THE Government is pleading with Jamaicans to participate in the collection of data for the 2022 population and housing census, which the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (Statin) will be conducting between September and December this year.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service Dr Nigel Clarke gave notice to the House of Representatives on Tuesday that he would shortly table the census regulation and order, which will codify into law the taking of the 2022 census. “This national exercise must be supported by all as each and every person living in Jamaica, normally resident in Jamaica, must be counted. The census is not a political activity, the census is for all of Jamaica. The success of the census is for the benefit of all Jamaicans; it is also a message that you count, I count, and all of us matter in Jamaica,” Clarke emphasised.

People eligible to participate in the census must be living in Jamaica for at least six months at the time of data collection. “Residents do not have to be citizens; we are interested in the number of people who live here, and so residency is the appropriate criterion,” Dr Clarke told the Jamaica Observer.In its last and 14th population and housing census conducted in 2011, Statin reported that it faced a number of challenges when trying to gather data.

Chief among them, the agency said, was “the general hostility of the population with what was regarded as a government project”; “an inability to relate their participation with immediate personal benefits”; and “the belief that the information would be given to the tax collectors”.

Statin also noted that violence in some areas, the inability of collectors to be out late at nights, incidents of being bitten by dogs, lack of access to gated complexes, and inefficient and unproductive census workers had hampered the process. Dr Clarke assured that the data-gathering process will be in keeping with recently passed data collection laws, and that Jamaicans’ personal information will be treated with strict confidence.”There are a number of data security measures that have been in place to protect the information being collected. Additionally, all census takers are legally obligated to protect the confidentiality of the information collected during the census. When the census is complete the results will only be shared in an anonymised way. Under the Statistics Act, Statin is prohibited from sharing confidential information with anyone,” he stressed.

Dr Clarke explained that data will only be taken from persons at their places of residence, but that the data collectors will leave notes if residents are not at home, and return at the convenience of the respondents. Responsible members of the residence are also allowed to provide information on behalf of other members of the household.

The minister noted that, for the first time, census takers will be using tablet computers to collect the information, and that the devices will be turned over to the Tablets in Schools programme after the process is completed. “The new technology will improve efficiency and the safety of data collection and processing,” he told the House. He advised that of 38,000 applicants, 7,525 had been recruited as census takers, and that efforts have been made to have people work nearby communities in which they live. He said two rounds of training have already been completed across nine parishes, and a third commenced on Monday, to be completed on August 9. Furthermore, the minister advised that public sensitisation activities will be ramped up after the Independence holidays, with a formal launch of ‘Census 2022’.Census statistics are used by the State as benchmarks to determine, among other things, location and quantity of public services, and public policy priorities while businesses use the information to drive new product development, branch locations, and other factors critical to investment and, by extension, national development.

The 2011 population and housing census gathered individual data on age, sex, relationship to head of household, religious affiliation, ethnic origin, marital and union status, educational attainment, physical and mental limitations, and fertility, among others.

The household questionnaire looked at types of units, number of rooms, tenure of land and dwelling; method of disposal of solid waste, water source; migration and mortality; and availability of communication devices.